Last month, the Kyrene School District extended a mandatory face covering policy for students and staff at its pre-K through 8th grade schools.
The district originally planned to make masks optional when students returned from winter break in January but reversed course as the omicron variant caused a dramatic increase in community spread of COVID-19.
Now, just over a month later, Kyrene is making masks optional beginning Monday.
District officials now say case totals in the area, as well as staff and student absence rates, have fallen in the past three weeks, allowing them to make masks optional.
The district says no other changes are being made to safety measures and that face coverings are still required on district transportation like school buses, per federal law.
The district serves parts of Tempe, Chandler, Guadalupe, and Phoenix.
